day; each man was rather reserved, waiting for his neighbour to begin.  Beaconsfield made a short speech, which was trying for some of his colleagues, particularly the Turks, who had evidently much difficulty in understanding English.  They were counting upon England’s sympathy, but a little nervous as to a supposed agreement between England and Russia.  The Russians listened most attentively.  There seemed to be a distrust of England on their part and a decided rivalry between Gortschakoff and Beaconsfield.  The Congress dined that first night with the Crown Prince at the Schloss in the famous white hall—­all in uniform and orders.  W. said the heat was awful, but the evening interesting.  There were one hundred and forty guests, no ladies except the royal princesses, not even the ambassadresses.  W. sat on Bismarck’s left, who talked a great deal, intending to make himself agreeable.  He had a long talk after dinner with the Crown Princess (Princess Royal of England) who spoke English with him.  He found her charming—­intelligent and cultivated and so easy—­not at all stiff and shy like so many royalties.  He saw her very often during his stay in Berlin, and she was unfailingly kind to him—­and to me also when I knew her later in Rome and London.  She always lives in my memory as one of the most charming women I have ever met.  Her face often comes back to me with her beautiful bright smile and the saddest eyes I have ever seen.  I have known very few like her.  W. also had a talk with Prince Frederick-Charles, father of the Duchess of Connaught, whom he found rather a rough-looking soldier with a short, abrupt manner.  He left bitter memories in France during the Franco-German War, was called the “Red Prince,” he was so hard and cruel, always ready to shoot somebody and burn down villages on the slightest provocation—­so different from the Prince Imperial, the “unser Fritz” of the Germans, who always had a kind word for the fallen foe.

[Illustration:  Prince Bismarck.  From a sketch by Anton von Werner, 1880.]

W.’s days were very full, and when the important sittings began it was sometimes hard work.  The Congress room was very hot (all the colleagues seemed to have a holy horror of open windows)—­and some of the men very long and tedious in stating their cases.  Of course they were at a disadvantage not speaking their own language (very few of them knew French well, except the Russians), and they had to go very carefully, and be quite sure of the exact significance of the words they used.  W. got a ride every morning, as the Congress only met in the afternoon.  They rode usually in the Thiergarten, which is not very large, but the bridle-paths were good.  It was very difficult to get out of Berlin into the open country without going through a long stretch of suburbs and sandy roads which were not very tempting.  A great many officers rode in the park, and one morning when he was riding with the military attache of the embassy, two officers rode